"From the earliest days of territorial exploration in the 16th
century, right up to the present day, Florida's African American heritage
has been a vital part of the great struggle for dignity and equality. Florida
nurtured the passionate determination and courage of leaders like Mary
McLeod Bethune and A. Phillip Randolph. It gave rise to great institutions
of learning and unique African American achievement in the arts, sciences,
athletics and entrepreneurship. Experience a few highlights of Florida's
African American heritage during this three-day odyssey along Florida's
East Coast and into Central Florida."

The tour begins in Daytona Beach, and ends in Fort Pierce. Along the
way you'll visit Bethune-Cookman College, The Black Heritage Museum, the
Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts in Eatonville (the first
all-black community incorporated in America), and view works by the renowned
group self-taught painters known as The Highwaymen. The tour includes historic
sites, monuments, colleges and museums. You will also find lodging, dining
and other attractions information.

This article highlights important sites and attractions, both historic
and contemporary, grouped by North, Centeral and Southern Florida. It includes
American Beach (Amelia Island), Jackie Robinson Ballpark (Daytona Beach)
and the Parramore District (Orlando.)

The home of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune is located on the campus of the
College she founded in 1904 with an investment of $1.50 and a student enrollment
of 5. Listed on the National Registry of Historic Places as well as a United
Methodist Historic Site, the home is filled with priceless artifacts, memorabilia
and period furnishings. Upon her death in 1955, Dr. Bethune was laid to
rest in a simple gravesite located behind the home. " You can take
a virtual tour online, or get information about visiting in person.

Founded in 1994, the AAMA is the only museum in the area devoted primarily
to African American cultures and art. It houses a revolving gallery where
visitors will find works of both established and emerging artists. The
museum is also the home to a permanent collection of more than 150 artifacts,
including sculptures and masks from countries of Africa. An amphitheater
and cultural park were opened in 2003.

The Museum's home is in a modest store front on busy Kennedy Boulevard.
The exterior is faded and run down, and only a glimmer of its once-vibrant
nouveau exterior is noticeable. Inside, you'll find displayed some of the
most noted African-American art of the past and present. It is also home
to the annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities, which
receives national attention.The festival is held annually the last week
in March. At the moment, the museum itself doesn't have a website, so the
link above takes you to the Festival website. For visiting hours and other
information, it's best to call the Museum at 407-647-3307. If you visit,
be sure to ask for a walking tour brochure for Historic Eatonville.

A general-service library, as well as a research facility and cultural
center containing more than 75,000 books and related materials that focus
on the experiences of people of African descent. Resources include literary
collections of African-American authors, books and artifacts from Africa,
the Caribbean, and North and South America, exhibits, seminars and special
events, including The Pan African Bookfest, Jazzteenth and Kwanzaa and
resources for information on local history. You can take a tour online,
download a Fact Sheet, learn about special events and more.

Owned by Broward County Public Schools and governed by the Old Dillard
Foundation Board of Trustees, the museum (a former High School) features
exhibits focused on Black history in Broward County and serves as a center
for cultural events. In February, 1991, the museum was placed on the National
Historic Register. For more information, use the link above then search
"Old Dillard."

This travel itinerary includes contact and background information on Centennial Hall, the Masonic Temple, and the Fire Museum, housed in the station that was manned primarily by black. The website includes lodging, dining and attractions information, and you can download a free 24-page booklet called Passages: A Multicultural Guide and Plannerwhich provides a historic timeline, information about festivals, shopping, dining lodging, meeting facilities

The plantation was named for one of several plantation owners, Zephaniah
Kingsley, who operated the property from 1813-1839. Purchased as a slave,
Kingsley's wife, Anna Madgigine Jai, was freed in 1811. She was active
in plantation management and became a successful business woman owning
her own property and her own slaves. The historic site, administered by
the National Park Service, is on about 25 acres of mostly open land, and
includes the plantation house, a kitchen house, a barn, and the ruins of
25 of the original slave cabins.. For much more information see Anna
Madgigine Jai Kingsley: African Princess, Florida Slave, Plantation Owner.
University Press of Florida, 2003.

"This park commemorates the site of Florida's largest Civil War
battle, which took place February 20, 1864. More than 10,000 cavalry, infantry,
and artillery troops fought a five-hour battle in a pine forest near Olustee.
Three U.S. Colored Troops took part in the battle, including the now famous
54th Massachusetts."

"The park was selected as a recipient of the 2003 Congressional
Black Caucus Veterans' Braintrust Award. The award, established by General
Colin Powell in 1990, recognizes outstanding national and community commitment
to African American veterans.The selection was based on the historical
significance of the 1864 Civil War battle in which three African American
units fought as part of the Union Army. The award also recognizes the hundreds
of African American Civil War reenactors who have paid tribute to the black
regiments by participating in the annual reenactment of the Battle of Olustee."

Olustee Battlefield is located on U.S. 90, 15 miles east of Lake City
and 50 miles west of Jacksonville. The Interpretive Center is open daily
from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. All facilities are available free of charge.

Dr. William Monroe Wells, one of Orlando's first black physicians, came
to the area in 1917 . Dr. Wells erected the Wells' Built Hotel to provide
lodging to African Americans during an era of segregation when accommodations
were not available to them in other areas of Central Florida. He also built
a casino which housed a basketball court and skating rink for the youth
during the day, and served as an entertainment hall for adults in the evening.

Currently, the museum features over 6,000 square feet of display space.
It retains the original hotel facade, a guestroom featuring authentic furniture,
beading and decorations of the 1930's, and also bears an original interior
wall reflecting important architectural elements and designs unique to
the period. Exhibition material collected for display include: official
hotel documents, an original Negro League baseball jersey, photographs,
artifacts, books, multi-media exhibits, slave records and other items of
historic significance.

The website offers tourist information, historical information and a
music video featuring some of the performers who appeared at the casino,
including Ray Charles, B.B. King, Louis Armstrong, Guitar Slim and Bo Diddley.

Founded by the Spanish, Fort Mose (Mo-say') was North America's first
free legally sanctioned Black community. The state of Florida was able
to acquire the 24-acre site and now administers it through Anastasia State
Recreation Area. In 1994 Fort Mose was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Since it is located in the marsh, there is presently no public access to
the actual site of the fort. However, there is a covered picnic pavilion,
a boardwalk, and a bronze plaque located on Saratoga Street off US 1 North.
The state hopes eventually to acquire more land and construct a museum
and cultural center there. For more information, contact Anastasia
State Recreation Area.

Named for the eminent historian who launched Black History Month, the museum seeks to preserve, present and interpret the heritage of African Americans in the St. Petersburg area. At the website you'll find exhibit information, educational offerings available through the museum, and a section called "Local Legends" which invites you to submit your own nominations.

Six exhibit cases are filled with artifacts and literature on African
American contributions to science. Topics featured vary from 17th century
pottery made by Colonial slaves to profiles on NASA astronauts.

"On isolated coastal plantations, enslaved blacks created the unique
Gullah culture, based on mixed European and African elements. At the center
of Gullah culture was the Gullah language, which drew most of its vocabulary
from English and its grammar from West African languages. Other aspects
of Gullah culture included musical and dance styles of African origin and
a Christianity infused with African spirituality and emotionalism. African
storytelling traditions survived in tales of "Brer Rabbit" and
"Brer Bear," tales in which the weak often outsmarted the strong.
Features of this rich cultural heritage survive in many crescent communities."

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the area just
east of downtown Tallahassee and west of Myers Park Drive was an African
American community called Smokey Hollow. In 1978, through the efforts of
local preservationists, the Riley House became the second house in Florida
owned by a black person to be placed on the National Register of Historic
Places (the first being the Mary McLeod Bethune house in Volusia County.)
In 1995, a group of Tallahassee citizens established a museum at the Riley
House dedicated to African-American history and culture.

At this rich website, in addition to visitor information, you'll find
a guide to Tallahassee's African American Heritage, Landmarks and Legacies,
exhibits, a calendar of events, and links to articles and more information
about Florida's African American history and preservation.

The 34-page Florida Black Heritage Trail contains descriptions
of more than 200 places important to the history of Florida, profiles of
noteworthy African Americans, and a guide to festivals throughout the state.
It also includes four self-guided driving tours and features vivid color
photographs.

Sites in the book include Eatonville, the country's oldest black municipality
and home of noted writer Zora Neale Hurston; the Julee Cottage Museum in
Pensacola, home of Julee Panton, a "free woman of color" in the
early 1800s; the Lincolnville Historic District in St. Augustine; the Black
Archives Research Center and Museum at Florida A & M University; and
American Beach, a predominantly black oceanfront resort established by
Abraham Lincoln Lewis, who in the 1930s founded the Afro-American Insurance
Company in Jacksonville.

An American Beach for African Americans. Marsha Dean Phelts. University
Press of Florida. Order
at Amazon.com

Traces the history of American Beach on Amelia Island outside of Jacksonville,
Florida, where a thriving African American community has existed since
the early twentieth century. More than a study of African American recreation,
the book provides insight into the self-sufficient African American communities
that were commonplace in the days of Jim Crow and their ultimate decline
after desegregation. Emphasis is placed on the role of early "Black
Bourgeoisie" leaders and entrepreneurs such as Abraham Lincoln Lewis,
a founder of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company, and the growth of
the region in the post-World War 11 era.

This volume includes descriptions and detailed visitor information for
hundreds of places of national and local significance, from churches and
schools to battlefields and cemeteries, from stops on the Underground Railroad
to landmarks of the 1950s civil rights movement. Black Heritage Sites is
perfect for travelers and historians of all kinds--from the family planning
a cross-country trip to the armchair traveler interested in gaining a unique
perspective on African American history.

Features 800 sites on the National Historic Register which relate
to African American History. Organized by 41 states plus the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Because it is designed as
an identification tool rather than as a trip planner, the book lists only
addresses and does not note telephone numbers, access policies, or admission
charges. The introduction, however, notes that approximately three-fourths
of the properties are privately owned and not open to the public. Black-and-white
photographs are provided for some of the sites, and eight introductory
essays provide context for understanding the historical significance of
the sites.

Describes over 300 sites across the US and Canada, with entries ranging
from a paragraph to several pages, with lots of illustrations. Each includes
a historical sketch detailing the site's significance and practical information
such as directions, hours, fees, and related sites....which of course you'd
want to doublecheck before traveling! This book is out of print (and out
of date) but still useful and available cheap through used booksellers
at Amazon.com.

In Their Footsteps: The American Visions Guide to African-American
Historical Sites. Chase, Henry. Owlet, 1994. Order
at Amazon.com

Similar to Canter's Historic Landmarks, but more comprehensive covering
46 states, Ontario and Nova Scotia. This book is out of print (and out
of date) but still useful and available through used booksellers at Amazon.com.

Covers a region of nine Southern states and the District of Columbia,
pointing out churches, gravesites, historic locations, nightclubs, museums,
art galleries, schools, markets, and jazz and blues landmarks. We venture
to Jackie Robinson Baseball Park in Daytona Beach, Florida, for example,
where Robinson played his first major league game, and to the Alex Haley
Home and Museum in Henning, Tennessee. Each chapter includes a brief section
on the history of that state and then lists sites in the various cities.